By Amanda Tennant, staff writer
As the holiday season approaches, teens at Indian Trail High School and Academy are animated with excitement and fervor. Due to ITHS&A’s diverse student and staff population, Hawks from all grades and backgrounds are celebrat- ing a variety of unique holidays with friends and families. Here are just a few.
Mawlid al-Nabi is one upcoming holiday. Mawlid al-Nabi is an Islamic holiday that celebrates the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday on Jan. 13. A tradition associ- ated with the holiday is recollecting the Prophet Muhammad’s life and accom- plishments by reading prayers and revis- iting lessons taught by the Prophet.
“It better helps us follow in his footsteps,” said Dear Deari, a General Stud- ies junior and a celebrator of Mawlid al-Nabi.
“[It] keep[s] us focused in our prayers and being thankful for our Prophet’s leadership.”
Deari said he celebrates Mawlid al- Nabi by praying frequently and reading the Quran, the holy book of the Islamic religion.
Another holiday that was recently cel- ebrated is the Hindu holiday of Diwali.
“It is [the] homecoming of the goddess [Lakshmi]. She was taken away from home,” said Bhuvaneswari Baskaron, an Indian Trail math teacher and a celebra- tor of Diwali.
Also known as the Festival of Lights, one of the main traditions of Diwali in- cludes lighting oils, threads, and cotton to create lamps. After the lamps are cre- ated, celebrators place the lamps around the interior of the house as well as the front. However, lighting lamps is not the only tradition associated with Diwali.
“We wear new clothes and make lots of sweets and celebrate,” said Baskaron. “We clean the house and it’s all clean and neat to invite the goddess.”
The goddess, Lakshmi, is also the goddess of wealth and prosperity and there- fore worshippers pray to her for material and spiritual prosperity. The time period in which the holiday occurs is between October and November of the new moon day.
Other holidays being celebrated include Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah.
Christmas is a Christian holiday that is celebrated on Dec. 25. The festivity commends the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. Christmas is a highly practiced holiday, with 2.4 billion Christians in the world, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s World Fact Book. The book’s 2010 sta- tistics break down the world’s religions and shows the world is 33.39 percent Christian, 22.74 percent Muslim, 13.8 percent Hindu, 6. 77 percent Buddhist, 0.35 percent Sikh, and .22 percent Jew- ish. Other religions make up about 11 percent; the nonreligious, 9.6 percent; and atheists, 2 percent.
Still, Christmas is popular amongst non-Christians, too. According to a 2010 gallup.com report, 95 percent of Ameri- cans celebrate Christmas, while only 81 percent identifying themselves as Christians. About 51 percent of respondents describe the holiday as “strongly religious” for them.
Kwanzaa is another holiday solem- nized during winter break.
According to officialkwanzaawebsite. org, Kwanzaa is a holiday the celebrates the values of the African culture and community as well as cultural identity and determination. The celebration of values is expressed through the Nguzo Saba, which is known as the “Seven Prin- ciples” (unity, self-determination, collec- tive work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose and faith). Kwanzaa is observed for seven days from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 to reaffirm the Seven Principles. A tradition that follows Kwanzaa is giv- ing gifts to children. Such presents are often books, which symbolize knowledge.
An additional holiday being commemorated is Hanukkah.
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that cel- ebrates how 21 centuries ago, a group of Jewish followers went to a holy temple shortly after its recapture. The followers then proceeded to light the menorah (a candelabrum) until they found that only a day’s worth of olive oil was left to light. However, eight days later the menorah was still lit and enough olive oil remained. Therefore, Hanukkah is expressed through an eight-day light festival and occurs in the Jewish month of Kislev. Traditions practiced with Hanukkah include giving gifts to children, eat- ing foods fried in olive oil and playing with the dreidel.
As students and staff of different back- grounds come together as one school population, Dave Dembowski, a sociology teacher at ITHS&A, comments on how diversity affects the school.
“It affects the school in a positive way. There are a lot of great groups of people here that bring in an interesting dynamic and a lot of different perspectives,” said Dembowski.
“It’s a great school. [It’s] unique in that way.”